QU ranked 3rd among universities in the Arab world in THE Asia University Rankings 2018

Qatar University (QU) has been ranked 52 in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings 2018, among the 350+ top universities from 25 countries in the Asia region. The announcement was made on February 6 on the THE website, naming QU 52nd among universities in the Asia region and 3rd among universities in the Arab world.

This achievement highlights QU’s continuous efforts to advance its standing among the top universities in the Asia region as the University was ranked 77th in the 2017 edition.

In calculating the top universities in Asia, the THE Asia University Rankings 2018 use the same 13 performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, but they are recalibrated to reflect the priorities of Asian institutions, and to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

The performance indicators are grouped into five areas: Teaching -- the learning environment (25%), Research -- volume, income and reputation (30%), Citations -- research influence (30%), International Outlook -- staff, students and research (7.5%), and Industry Income -- knowledge transfer (7.5%).

Commenting on the achievement, QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham said: “We are proud of QU being ranked 52nd in THE Asia University Rankings 2018. This achievement highlights the university’s continuous advancement in its regional standing as it achieved 77th place in 2017. As Qatar’s first higher education institution, QU has rigorously pursued educational excellence and the highest quality research. The university is committed to deliver the best possible education to its students and to inspire them to achieve their potential. Through its world-class graduate and postgraduate programs, QU has earned a huge reputation as one of the most prestigious universities in the region. The university has a growing number of master’s and PhD programs and an ambitious research capability which focuses on national development priorities.”

He added: “QU will continue in its efforts to address relevant local and regional challenges, advance knowledge, and contribute actively to the needs and aspirations of society. To achieve this, the university developed a new five-year strategy (2018-2022) which will map out the routes to achieving continuing performance excellence and build on its achievements in key areas of education, research, institution and engagement. The new strategy also focuses on the importance of providing academic and research programs that align with international standards and with the principles of the Arabic and Islamic culture and identity. We aim to prepare distinguished national leaders and to benefit from QU’s resources to develop the national human capital towards building a knowledge-based economy.”

QU Scholarships and Partnerships Office Director Mr Cesar Wazen said: “The ranking results prove that the resources devoted to research (income and PhD students) are increasing while QU is holding the quantity of research output steady, thus the quality goes up, leading to our biggest gain being in citation impact. Even in the current difficult times inflicted by the ongoing Gulf crisis, preceded by the drop in oil prices, resources were not affected. On the contrary, the general impression is that the resulting blockade served as a catalyst to the implementation of the shift to a knowledge-based economy. The R&D strategy is proving efficient by providing the country with human resources capable of adapting to change quite swiftly and QU, as the national university, serves as an incubator for all these ideas and leads the way in providing significant and useful research. For that reason, the trend of improvement in scores on ranking for our university has stood the test of time, but it is also bound to be consolidated with the country relying on its own resources to come out stronger from the current situation as H.H. The Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani defiantly stated in October.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Media enquiries to Murielle El Hajj Nahas, +974 4403 5790; [email protected]

About Qatar University:
Qatar University is one of the leading institutions of academic and research excellence in the GCC region. It provides high quality undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare competent graduates, primed to shape the future of Qatar. The organization's strong relationship with Qatari society is reflected in its community service efforts and in its vibrant research portfolio that addresses relevant local and regional challenges, advances national goals towards a knowledge-based economy, and contributes actively to the needs and aspirations of the society.